Companion
by ravenwings52
Summary: Valkyrie waits for something she refuses, Skulduggery tries to let go of something he can't live without, the Doctor tries to move on while clinging on to the past, and Rose keeps on missing the one thing she seeks.
1. Companion

"Ah! Ireland. Twenty-first century, if I'm not wrong."

Valkyrie stared at the man in front of her. He had appeared just a little while ago in the middle of her escape. She had heard a weird noise when she was running away from some vampires, and practically ran straight into him when he stepped out of a blue box of all things. He sort of reminded her of Skulduggery: tall, skinny, mysterious, a bit of a know-it-all, and strange.

Suddenly, she heard the telltale pants of the three monsters behind her, and she remembered why she was out of breath. She began to run again, but realized that the man was following her. She cursed, and shoved him to the side.

He looked momentarily surprised, before catching up to her. She hoisted herself over a barred chain link fence, expecting the man to leave, but surprisingly, he somehow unlocked the gate like Tanith.

Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. So the man was a sorcerer. That would explain how he got here. But he still had to go. She wouldn't let him be killed by vampires because he wouldn't get out of the way. She continued to make her way towards the pier, hoping to lose him on her way through the woods.

Unfortunately, it was too late. They were already catching up to her, and it seemed like the only course of action was to throw him into the water with her. As Valkyrie neared the pier, she splayed her hand, sending the brown-haired man into the salt water. His eyes opened wide in shock for a split-second before his head went underwater; Valkyrie hoped that the man could swim before diving into the frigid water as well.

She noticed him trying to reach the surface, but she shoved his head down, gesturing for him to wait until the vampires left. He gave a slight nod, and they waited silently for another few seconds before throwing themselves onto the pier, spluttering for air.

"Well. That was a type of hematophagous Chiroptera-Homo Sapiens I've never encountered before."

Valkyrie somehow managed to give him the, 'speak English, please' look while using her magic to remove most of the water from her hair.

"Blood-sucking bat-human. Vampire, as you humans call 'em."

"'You humans'? What's that supposed to mean? You an alien or something?" Valkyrie demanded suspiciously.

"Actually, yes."

"Su-u-u-re. And my best friend's a skeleton."

"You don't believe me."

"No, really. My best friend's a skeleton."

The man frowned for a second.

"Anyways, who are you?" Valkyrie demanded.

"I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor what?"

"Just the Doctor." His eyes held a far away look in them, as if he was remembering someone that he could never see again.

Valkyrie nodded. It wasn't the strangest name she had heard.

"I'm Valkyrie Cain."

The Doctor seemed to regain his composure, and got up, shaking the water out of his hair.

"Well, Valkyrie Cain, it was nice meeting you. Now, I've got somewhere to get to..."

Valkyrie leapt up.

"Hold on! You can't just go running off like this."

The Doctor gave her a sad smile.

"Yes I can. This is me, running off like always. Never staying."

"And where exactly are you going to go? There's no way that you'll be able to make to back to that blue box of yours without running into more vampires. You were pretty much useless back there. I'm pretty sure that I deserve a thank you at the very least. I did save your life."

The Doctor laughed.

"Well, thank you."

He turned to leave.

"I'm coming with you." She amended that statement, adding, "Not to stay, just to make sure that you don't kill yourself."

The Doctor stared at her, then smiled a genuine smile.

"Well then! Off we go. Allons-y!"

Valkyrie followed him down a dark alley. He was playing with a screwdriver-type thing.

"How do you know where your box is?"

"TARDIS."

"A what?"

"Time and Relative Dimension in Space."

"A time machine."

The Doctor paused.

"It travels through space, too."

"We have teleporters for that."

"Well, you're mighty hard to impress, aren't you?"

Valkyrie grinned.

"I've seen too much to be surprised anymore, and I've got hundreds of years more of strange things to encounter."

The Doctor looked at her oddly.

"Hundreds of years?"

"Yeah..."

They turned around another to a small corner where the box was sitting.

"Huh. No vampires." Valkyrie muttered. She just hoped that Skulduggery had gotten rid of his share this time around; it would be annoying if she had to fight a whole lot of them. The Doctor took out some keys and unlocked the door.

Skulduggery hadn't. A bunch of vampires ran around the corner.

The door opened.

"In! Get in now!"

Valkyrie hastily followed the Doctor's order. The two collapsed inside of the box, breathing heavily as they heard the vampires trying to get in.

Valkyrie looked around the TARDIS.

"It's bigger on the inside," was all that she could manage. The walls were curved, and there was some sort of console in the center of it all. A picture of a girl was taped to one of the walls.

"Yes it is," the Doctor agreed happily. He toggled with something on a huge hunk of junk in the middle of the room, and Valkyrie heard the same noise from earlier echo throughout the box. The noise outside subsided, and Valkyrie opened the door again.

"We're in front of my house."

The Doctor looked up.

"So we are."

Valkyrie hesitated.

"Where will you go now?"

The Doctor shrugged.

"Here, there, anywhere in the universe that needs me."

Valkyrie nodded.

"You know... You could come with me. See the whole galaxy. Be my companion."

Valkyrie froze.

"I'm sorry, but... I'm already somebody's... um... companion."

He nodded.

"Yeah... Okay. See you around."

She stepped outside. Skulduggery was waiting in the Bentley.

"Doctor?"

He turned.

"Don't go running forever, all right? You'll find her."

He smiled.

She shut the door, and didn't look back.


	2. Doctor

Three weeks. Three whole weeks, yet Valkyrie couldn't forget him. Sometimes, she wondered whether she should've gone with him, if only to make sure he wasn't alone. After all, he was a time traveler too, wasn't he? She could stay with him, then come back to Skulduggery when she was needed.

But she remembered what had happened that night, and she knew that she couldn't leave Skulduggery as much as she wanted to go.

_"So, is he your new boyfriend?" Skulduggery asked, as she got into the car._

_"Nah. He's looking for someone else."_

_"Seatbelt," he reminded her._

_Valkyrie rolled her eyes._

_"By the way, you didn't take care of your share of the vampires. The Doctor and I ran into a whole bunch of them."_

_"I threw my lot of them into a cage. They should've ripped each other to pieces."_

_"Well, they escaped."_

_"Who's this Doctor, then, if he's not your boyfriend?" Skulduggery questioned, returning to the initial topic._

_"He's... He's a lonely man. So old, but so young, and he's seen so much. He's mysterious, lively to the point of being annoying, but somehow he's not. He's fantastic, amazing, clever, magical, different. He's... something else."_

_Skulduggery didn't say anything for a minute._

_"He sounds wonderful."_

_"He was."_

_They sat there, side by side in the silence like they usually did, but instead of companionable, the atmosphere was unbearable._

_Finally, Valkyrie couldn't take it anymore._

_"Did I do something?" She half-yelled at him. Skulduggery sounded like he was trying to restrain himself._

_"No," he said. "I was just surprised that you didn't go with him, if he's so great."_

_She almost slapped him._

_"He did ask me to go with him."_

_Skulduggery straightened, slightly shocked._

_"Why didn't you go?"_

_"Contrary to popular belief, I don't stay with you for just the thrills and adventures and the magic. I stay with you because you're my friend, my partner, you idiot. I love you, remember? As stupid as you are."_

_Skulduggery relaxed slightly, and she realized that he really was scared that she would leave him._

_"Oh, come here," she said, and leaned over to hug him. "You don't have to take me home tonight. I'll sleep over. You have pizza, right?"_

_"What makes you think that I want to have you over?" He teased, and she knew that he would be fine now._

If only she could let go of this silly notion that she had let a once-in-a-lifetime chance slide right through her grasp. It wouldn't be right to try and take place of that girl he was looking for, anyways. She knew that he only wanted her to come because he was lonely, and maybe because she would live longer too.

But if she knew all of this, why couldn't she just forget the Doctor?

* * *

Five months had passed. Well, five months and thirteen days, to be exact. But Valkyrie wasn't counting.

She couldn't get rid of the Doctor, it seemed. She found herself listening for the telltale sound of his TARDIS, wearing more blue, paying attention whenever anybody mentioned the word 'doctor', and other ridiculous things. Skulduggery was starting to notice, too.

_"Valkyrie, you have to stay awake. We'll be there soon."_

_Her head hurt so much and she was so sleepy... Something red was clouding her vision in her right eye. She was yelling in her head, Darquesse. Telling her to let her out. Then she would be fine..._

_"I'm going to take you to Doctor Nye and you'll be okay. It'll fix you up, like usual."_

_Valkyrie tried to get up, but her body felt so heavy._

_"D-doctor?" She whispered. "Is he here?"_

_Skulduggery took his foot off of the gas pedal for a second, and turned to look at her._

_"No, but I'm taking you to it right now... Hold on, 'him'? Valkyrie, you have got to stay awake!"_

_Her words were slurred._

_"Silly, I don' mean Nye... I mean the Doctor. Blue box doctor. Lonely doctor. D'ya think he's found 'er yet?"_

_Skulduggery gripped the steering wheel more tightly with his left hand and reached down with his right to squeeze her shoulder tightly._

_"Valkyrie, please."_

_She thought that she saw a flash of blue in the sky, but she blinked and it disappeared. She blinked again, and this time her eyes wouldn't open properly..._

_She could hear Skulduggery yelling, and then the Bentley stopped and he was lifting her out of the car and something warm was trickling from her forehead and she couldn't help it, she was losing her grip on reality, but she had to see him, she had to see the Doctor with his TARDIS and his screwdriver and... And... And..._

He hadn't talked about any of it afterwards. She knew that he wanted to forget that night, when he had acted completely out of character, scared, so scared. He had never yelled, never pleaded, even when she was Darquesse. He had never acted so utterly human before. And she didn't want him to remember her talking about the Doctor.

So they ignored it.

* * *

Eight months, two weeks, and four days.

She had waited so long, so long for something that she had refused. And she would refuse again for Skulduggery.

But now he was there, standing in the doorway of his blue box, watching them silently.

And she wasn't sure what she would choose.

* * *

"Go on."

Skulduggery's voice broke the silence.

"Go with him."

Valkyrie looked between the two men.

The Doctor, the one who ran away. The lonely, sad, regretful man who saved worlds and planets and saw the universe. The one who lost everything, the one who would go on and on and on. The one who gave mercy. The oncoming storm.

Skulduggery, the one who came back. The twisted, angry, bitter man who ended a war. The one who lost his family and himself for a short while. The one who lived though he didn't want to. The one who killed. The skeleton detective.

She could have everything, then lose it in a heartbeat, or keep what she had and lose it even faster. The mystery. The partner. A stranger. A friend.

"No, you idiot," she said, stepping towards Skulduggery. "Until the end, remember?"

He nodded, and she wrapped her arms around him for a second.

When she looked back, the Doctor was gone.

* * *

Eight months, two weeks, and five days. Eight months, two weeks, and six days. Three weeks.

She had chosen, twice.

So why couldn't she forget?


	3. Rose

Valkyrie walked down the road lazily, wandering wherever her feet would take her. It was a brisk autumn Sunday, so she didn't have to worry about working. She paused as she reached the end of the street, and realized that she was at the pier.

She numbly began to walk forward. She hadn't been here for exactly one year. One year since she first saw Him.

A lump formed in Valkyrie's throat, and she shoved her hands into her pockets. There was the spot where she had dragged the Do-

No, she wouldn't let herself think about him again. She couldn't still be hung up over him. She had chosen Skulduggery twice.

Valkyrie was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't notice the girl until she was halfway to the edge of the pier.

She couldn't help it. She stared.

The girl looked to be around twenty, maybe a little older than Valkyrie. She was fairly tall, blonde, and pretty. But it wasn't any of that that caught Valkyrie's eye; she just seemed... Familiar, somehow.

Valkyrie walked a little further down the pier so she could peek over her shoulder to see the girl's face. Her eyes widened as she realized who she was.

"You're the girl that the Doctor's looking for!" Valkyrie breathed.

"Excuse me?"

Valkyrie blushed slightly as she realized that she had been staring openly at the girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You just looked like somebody my friend was looking for..."

The girl smiled, but her eyes were sad like the Doctor's.

"I'm Rose Tyler. And you are...?"

Valkyrie knew that this would probably make her feel worse, but she had to find out more about this Rose Tyler that the Doctor was so intent on finding.

"I'm Valkyrie. Valkyrie Cain. Are you new to Haggard?"

"I- No. I'm just passing through."

Valkyrie tried to judge her reaction. There was a high possibility that Rose knew the Doctor, but she wouldn't really know unless she took a slight risk.

"You know, I had a friend once. He told me that he never stayed anywhere for long. I didn't know him for long, but he was so sad. He was different, special. I never knew his real name, but he was searching for someone. He called himself the Doctor."

Rose seemed to perk up at that last bit.

"The... Doctor?" She asked slowly.

"Yes," Valkyrie replied. "Did you know him?"

Rose's eyes got that faraway look.

"I knew him, alright. We traveled together. I saw so many fantastic, awful things. But one day... We were... Separated."

Valkyrie said one last word.

"TARDIS."

Rose's eyes widened.

"So you met him? Is he still here?"

Valkyrie didn't want to tell her that the Doctor was long gone, but Rose would find out sooner or later.

"He's out there, looking for you."

She thought it was best not to mention the fact that he offered to take her with him. Twice.

Rose gave her a half-smile.

Valkyrie wasn't even quite sure what she was saying next.

"Tell you what, you can stay over at my place for the night. In the morning, you can go off and do whatever, but take a rest for today."

"I have to find him. He can't be that far from here..."

Valkyrie forced out a smile.

"I understand."

She did, but she didn't want to. Rose was the closest thing to the Doctor she had. She didn't want to give this up as easily as she had given up the Doctor.

Rose pulled a large yellow button out of her pocket. She moved to push it.

"Wait!" Valkyrie yelled. "Tell the Doctor- tell him that I miss him."

Rose's eyes met hers, and she nodded before she disappeared.

Valkyrie stared at the spot where Rose was standing just seconds before. Her last link to the Doctor had disappeared, was gone. She probably wouldn't ever meet the Doctor ever again. Why had she passed up the chance of a lifetime? Twice? She was alone, once again, on an empty pier.

Valkyrie didn't realize how long she had been standing there by herself until she heard the purr of the Bentley's engines behind her. She looked up, and saw that the stars were already up. Valkyrie involuntarily shivered, and Skulduggery draped his coat over her shoulders. It was heavy, and warm, and smelt like smoke.

"You've been crying," he said gently.

Valkyrie touched her damp cheek with a hand and tasted tears.

"Valkyrie, what's wrong? You haven't been the same, not since..." Skulduggery's voice faltered. "Him. You've been trying to hide it, but I know you. I miss my Valkyrie, the one who insults me and hits me and is my partner. Please, Valkyrie, what's wrong?"

Valkyrie stood still, unable to say anything. She knew that Skulduggery had been worried about her, but she never expected him to act so completely out of character. But then again, she hadn't been herself for the longest while either. She felt so wrong, so awful. She should've moved on by now, should've been herself. But here she was, crying over a man she hadn't known for an hour.

"It's not fair!"

She turned to Skulduggery, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"I chose you twice! I need you, love you! You're my best friend! But I keep on regretting it! I hate it! I wish I had never met him, but I can't imagine what it was like before! It's bloody stupid!"

Skulduggery wrapped his arms around her.

"No, it isn't."

Skulduggery was cold, and she could feel his ribs through his thin white button-up. His hands stroked her hair, and for once she didn't protest. She had changed, so much, too much.

She let him hug her, but all she could think about was the Doctor.


	4. Alone

He was tired. They were gone, now, they were all gone. His TARDIS was empty once more. Now it was just him, a madman in a blue box, and the universe. He couldn't see it. He couldn't see the wonder.

He sighed, and leaned against the console. The old girl groaned on response. She was getting old, as was he.

"What now?" He whispered, his cheek pressed against the cool surface of the TARDIS. "What happens now?"

He got up, and did what he always did. He flipped some switches, set it to RANDOM, and ran away. Ran from it all.

* * *

When the TARDIS stopped, the Doctor didn't look to see what was outside. He didn't care, not without anybody to wonder with. Rose would ask him to open the door, or she would be opening it herself. She would've gone through the wardrobe already, and chosen something perfect for the place or time they had arrived in. Of course, she would've looked perfect, beautiful-

No. He had to stop this, forget. He had to stop being the Doctor who remembered and become the one who forgot. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and opened the door.

* * *

It was cold outside. The weather was grey, and lonely. The Doctor smiled bitterly. It reflected his mood at the moment.

He seemed to have landed on a pier in Haggard, Ireland. The time was probably 2017. Something sparked in his mind. _Valkyrie_, it said. _Valkyrie's still here_.

_Valkyrie refused, twice_, He argued. _And she's probably gone by now, anyways._

_No, _the spark reminded him. _It's only been a year or so. Besides, she still has centuries of life ahead of her._

He sighed (he seemed to be doing that a lot, lately), and slowly began to explore the small town. He hadn't been able to look around much last time; he was too busy being dragged around by the enigma that was Valkyrie Cain.

He shook his head violently. He had to forget not only his companions, but the girl who refused him as well. He just needed to see her one more time, to tell her goodbye, before he went as far away from this small planet as possible.

He wrapped the coat around him a little closer, acting as if that would protect him from the emotional turmoil he was going through. He felt old, so full of grief like his previous incarnation. He thought that he had gotten over all of this. He should've known that it would never change.

A couple passed by him. He would've ignored them- they would only serve to remind him of what he had lost- but something felt familiar about the girl walking with the tall man.

He spun around quickly, and forced his body to run after them.

"Valkyrie Cain!"

The girl stopped abruptly, and the man briefly looked over his shoulder at him.

She turned around hesitantly, and his chest felt tight when he recognized that same intense look and the long dark brown hair. But something was different. The first time, she had looked at him with disbelief and sympathy. The second time, she looked torn but decisive. This time... This time, she was sad. He could see some hatred and relief in there as well.

She looked at him like she was never going to see him again and was trying to remember every little detail while she still could. Then she pulled on the man's arm and continued to walk away.

He knew that she recognized him. He knew that she didn't want to leave; her fingernails were digging into her palms and she continuously had to keep her head looking forward.

He didn't go after her. He couldn't. It was stupid to think that it would be any different this time around. She had refused him twice, and now a third time.

The Doctor trudged back to the TARDIS, his hands shoved into his pockets.

Alone.

* * *

He hadn't gotten very far, when Valkyrie sprinted after him and grabbed his coat. He turned. Valkyrie was standing there, tears spilling down her cheeks, though she didn't seem to be aware of it. Her face was slightly flushed from running, just like it had been a year ago.

"Doctor," she breathed, then hugged him. She held him tightly, banishing any of the cold that might've snuck past his coat. He could hear her sniffling quietly. He eventually wrapped his arms around her as well. She was so tall, so fragile, so strong. Her slender form shook slightly; whether it was from the cold or her tears he couldn't tell. They stood there for what felt like an eternity; the Doctor welcoming the human warmth that he had missed for so long.

Eventually, she let go. The man was standing a little ways behind her, observing the whole thing. The Doctor didn't care. He had seen Valkyrie, and now it would be all right. He opened his mouth to tell her everything...

She hit him. Valkyrie slapped him as hard as she could, and he involuntarily stepped back. He whole cheek burned a bright red, and his mouth fell open in an 'O'.

"Three whole years!" She screamed.

He blinked, not quite understanding what she was saying.

"Three whole years, Doctor. Three whole years since I last saw you. It's been four years since I first met you, and ever since then I've been an emotional wreck. Always wondering what would've happened if I just went with you, always wishing I'd gone. But I knew that I wouldn't, knew that I'd stay here."

The Doctor stared at the angry girl- no, woman- in front of him. He never thought that she felt that way, never thought about it all, really.

"Valkyrie, I'm so-" he began.

"Sorry won't help now! Did you even think about me, all these years? I suppose it was just a day since you saw me last, but for me it was four whole years! And where's Rose? Did you ever find her? Is she back at the TARDIS, waiting for her Doctor?!"

The Doctor stopped protesting. Valkyrie stopped yelling, and waited.

"You're right. I didn't think about you, just tried to forget like I always do. I ran away, Valkyrie, and I'm sorry. It was a year for me since I saw you last, but it felt like a day. But you're wrong about Rose. She's gone, now, somewhere where I can't reach her. And this time, it's for sure." He didn't elaborate on that, it still hurt too much to think about it.

Valkyrie nodded.

"I understand, but I don't want to see you right now. I'm all mixed up, and nothing makes sense right now. So leave me alone, Doctor, just stay away."

The Doctor couldn't do anything as she walked away, the tall man following. He wasn't sure how he felt either.

But this time, he stayed.


	5. Jealous

After a while, the tall man returned. The Doctor watched him from where he was standing. The man stood a couple yards away from him, his hands in his coat pocket like the Doctor. The Doctor couldn't see much of his face, but he wasn't human. The man crossed the few steps necessary to reach him.

"So it's you," the man stated. His voice was rich and smooth. The Doctor eyed him suspiciously, playing with his sonic screwdriver in his pocket.

"Me? Well, I'm known for many things, but what is it this time?"

The man ignored him. The Doctor wasn't used to that.

"Skulduggery Pleasant, detective. And you're the Doctor?"

The man- Skulduggery- said that as if it were a fact instead of a question.

"You were with Valkyrie."

Skulduggery nodded, and his hat slipped slightly. The Doctor noticed a shock of messy black hair and two piercingly blue eyes before a slender gloved hand snuck up and adjusted the hat so that the detective's face was concealed again. The Doctor's first thought was, _No wonder Valkyrie stayed with this man._ His second thought was, _This man is a skeleton. _He couldn't help but admire the complexity and surprisingly genuine-looking facade that the magic around the man constructed.

"Was the pun intended in your name?"

To the skeleton's credit, he didn't bat an eyelash. _Skeletons don't have eyelashes_, the Doctor had to remind himself.

"I am quite tricky. But you know quite well that that's not why I'm here."

"Valkyrie," the Doctor nodded. He pushed any emotions deep down inside where they belonged and put on his own facade. It was old and well-worn, but nobody could see through it except for his Companions._ And Valkyrie_, his inner-voice reminded him.

"Valkyrie." Skulduggery echoed.

Skulduggery's hat slipped again, and this time he held on to it instead of fixing it. His blue eyes flashed with anger- the Doctor shuddered for the briefest of seconds- then Skulduggery's facade was wiped of any humanity he might pretend. The Doctor knew that the detective had done what the Time Lord had just did, except they were in no way alike. The skeleton had no mercy, gave no warning, and killed without a thought. Skulduggery held guilt as well, but he refused to remember.

Sometimes, the Doctor wished that he couldn't look through people so easily. Right now, he was more hesitant to know everything that made up Skulduggery Pleasant than anything. He didn't try to look any harder.

"Do you know what you did to her?" Skulduggery asked, his voice dangerously low. He still remained an arm's length away, but the Doctor held onto his screwdriver a little tighter.

"Yes," the Doctor replied. "She told me quite clearly. And loudly, might I add."

"That's not all, you know. You weren't there when it all happened. I watched her slipping. She stayed with me for me, because I needed her and she needed me, but do you know how much it hurts to see," he paused, "someone you care for not quite there? Every time she let it show, I knew it was you she was thinking of. For the last three years, I've watched her become someone that she's not. And when Valkyrie changed, I did too. I've tried to let her go, but she stood by my side this whole time. And I've been unable to do anything for the girl- no, woman- I love!"

Skulduggery's voice got louder and louder as he spoke, until suddenly he went limp. His fake eyes looked so real when he met the Doctor's. The detective was so tired, relentlessly searching for her all this time. Similar to the Doctor, he wanted to protect the people close to him even when he knew that it was helpless.

"What do I do?" The Doctor asked quietly.

"You hurt her. It'll take her a long time to heal. Just... stay away from others. You only break them." His blue eyes were flat. The Doctor knew what he was saying. _I made her who she is, so it's my job to protect her. Stay away from us. Don't come back. It was wrong, but right until you showed up. It's your fault._

The Doctor met his gaze.

"I won't leave until I've fixed this. I won't run away again."

A grudging respect glimmered briefly in the skeleton's eyes, and for a second, the Doctor saw the stark white bone underneath the coat. Skulduggery nodded, and walked away.

The Doctor watched the shadow of a man leave. There was something about him that the Time Lord didn't like. He felt slightly bitter towards the skeleton. Bitter, and wistful, and respect.

_You're jealous_.

And he was.

The skeleton was never alone. He would always have a constant companion by his side, one who would give her own happiness to stay with him.

The Doctor sighed, and sat on the edge of the pier like he had with Valkyrie all those years ago.

The girl from then and the woman now was so different. He had done that.

The Doctor sighed. He had fixed so many problems across the universe, but this one was one he wasn't sure how to solve. What could he do?

He took his sonic screwdriver out of his pocket and spun it around in his hand.

Footsteps sounded behind him, and nimble fingers plucked it out of his hand. The Doctor turned around. There was a pair of black boots, two strong legs (perfect for running), a protective jacket and crossed arms, and mischievous and clever eyes. Beautiful brown eyes.

"Valkyrie," he said.

She smiled, and then suddenly he was meeting her for the first time again, when she was capable and flawed and brave. She threw the sonic up into the air, then caught it and tucked it behind her ear.

"Take me to your TARDIS."


	6. Detective

Skulduggery stood off to the side, watching Valkyrie follow the Doctor into the TARDIS. The door shut with a creak, and then Valkyrie disappeared from sight. There was a minute of quiet, then a loud whirring sound broke the mid-morning silence. The box faded from sight, and then Valkyrie was gone. He sighed, then went to go wait back in the Bentley.

He knew he was a skeleton, but somehow the damp cold managed to seep through his coat and into his bones. Skulduggery closed his facade's eyes, and tried to meditate. He hoped that it wasn't too cold wherever Valkyrie was. If it was cold here, she'd make him give her his jacket, but he didn't know what Mr. Blue Box would do.

Skulduggery scowled. He was worrying too much. Valkyrie would be fine. In fact, he looked the best he had seen her in ages. Anything had to be better than the lifeless eyes from before. And even though he didn't like that Doctor of hers, he knew that she would be safe with him.

He shifted in his seat a little. When were they going to be back? The man was a time traveler, according to Valkyrie, so they should be back by now, right?

Skulduggery pursed his lips together. He knew why he was being so impatient. He didn't like the idea of Valkyrie teasing and going adventures with somebody other than him. Maybe he was being overprotective, but it didn't feel right. She could take care of herself, but she still needed somebody to have her back. And Skulduggery wasn't too keen on the Doctor taking his place.

After all, that Doctor was tall and slim and smart. He had nice hair, and though he didn't look as refined as Skulduggery, he had a good taste in suits. The Doctor could take Valkyrie places that Skulduggery never could. And he looked like a human.

The Doctor was like him, except a little better for Valkyrie.

Skulduggery scowled. He shouldn't think like that. Valkyrie would come back. She always did.

He couldn't blame her if she didn't.

How long had it been? He checked his watch. It was only 9:30, just ten minutes after she'd left. He looked around.

A girl passed by, walking her dog. For a split second, Skulduggery thought she was Valkyrie. But her hair was too light and she had curves that Valkyrie didn't have, and Valkyrie hadn't carried out her threat to get a huge dog for a pet yet. He sighed, and slumped back into his seat. Distractions. He needed something to distract him.

For a time, he amused himself by rewatching the third season of Sherlock, but it wasn't nearly as interesting without Valkyrie next to him. He kept on remembering her comments from their Sherlock marathon last month. Halfway through The Sign of Three, he gave up and checked the time again.

11:35. Still there was no sign of Valkyrie returning any time soon.

The pier was still surprisingly empty. Skulduggery waited some more.

When Valkyrie came back, he was going to take her out to dinner. Maybe to that fancy French placed she liked, or the small café two blocks away. They could go for a drive. He would let her drive the Bentley. Maybe. Just for a little.

Valkyrie would probably laugh, and ask him why he was being so nice. In the most insulting way possible, of course. He would reply in an equally sarcastic manner, and maybe she'd watch High Society with him. He would even put up with her Grace Kelly dissing. And if he was really lucky, she'd stay for the night.

Skulduggery was interrupted by his phone ringing. He answered, hoping that maybe it was her, that maybe the Doctor had just dropped her off in the wrong place and she wanted him to pick her up. But it was just Tanith, wondering where Valkyrie was. He said that she went on a short vacation with a friend.

12:00 came and went. The afternoon slipped by, and Skulduggery grew more anxious by the hour. He stayed in the Bentley, just in case she came back when he was gone and wondered where he went. The sky got darker, and the pier was entirely devoid of any people. She should've been back by now. Why wasn't she back?

Around 9, a police officer approached his car and told him that he couldn't stay there overnight. Skulduggery didn't say a word. He just nodded, and drove back to his house.

It was too quiet without her. He missed her falling asleep on the couch while he researched suspects, or nagging at him to keep something in the refrigerator. He made a cup of black coffee for her before realizing what he was doing and setting it on the table. The mug clinked hollowly, echoing throughout the house.

He stayed up the whole night waiting for her. She didn't come back. She didn't come back the next day, either.

Skulduggery didn't let himself think that she was gone. She promised him that she would come back, he told himself with as much conviction as he could muster. Until the end, they had promised. She would return to him and he would give her a skeleton hug and she would take his hat. And then he would say something witty and she would call him an idiot but she would be smiling.

The house remained empty.

Another week passed. And then a month.

She would come back. She always came back.

He had to believe it. Because this time, he couldn't go after her.

So the detective waited for his partner, and he would keep on waiting, because if he didn't then he would have to accept it.

And there was no way that he could accept that she was gone.


	7. Traveler

It was the same as before. The console in the center of the room looked exactly the same, and the TARDIS was still bigger on the inside. It was still absolutely brilliant, but different.

The Doctor practically glowed as he shut the door behind her.

"Where to?"

Valkyrie smiled. It was as if the past three years had never happened, and she was where she ought to be.

"Anywhere is fine," she said, and the Doctor looked a hundred years younger as he spun around, pulling cranks and pushing buttons.

The TARDIS whirled through the universe, and when it finally stopped Valkyrie was exhilarated. She went to open the door, then hesitated. She looked back, and the Doctor nodded.

"Go on."

The doors creaked, and Valkyrie gasped as she opened the door. Outside was a planet completely made of glass. The ground was smooth and black, and thin, bone-like structures of a clear material seemed to sprout up from the ground. Small red jewels adorned the glass, sending eerie yet beautiful fractured light across the sky.

"Welcome to Axsoria. We are aproximately 42,000,000 light years away from Earth."

Valkyrie gingerly stepped out of the TARDIS. Her footstep echoed for a second, then quickly tapered away into the nothingness. The Doctor followed behind her.

"Where is everybody?" She asked, her words being tugged out of her mouth and disappearing as quickly as she said them.

"Those glass towers are the Axsorians' bones."

Valkyrie spun around quickly, almost losing her balance on the obsidian ground.

"What do you mean?"

The Doctor put his hand on her back, steadying her. _Like Skulduggery would_, she thought, then shook the thought away. She would go home soon.

"The Axsorians were a peaceful race. All they did was sing, and they were left alone. They were like dragons. Large dragons, made of ruby and glass. Anyways, Axsorians live a long time, and I don't think they ever evolved quite properly. They didn't need to eat, as they were jewels, and I suppose they didn't need to reproduce either. They didn't die. One day, they just all went to sleep. Eons passed by, and the ruby wore away. Now the glass bones are all that's left, except for a few scales leftover. See? There's some over there."

The Doctor pointed to the red gems on the bones.

"Oh," she said.

The planet suddenly felt too quiet, and she felt like the glass was rising higher, about to fall down and crush them any moment now.

She shook the uncertainty off. She was Valkyrie Cain, Skulduggery Pleasant's partner. She had helped to destroy Darquesse, faced gods, and put up with Skulduggery's jokes. She could handle a bit of creepiness.

The Doctor began to walk ahead. He hummed softly, but soon stopped. The atmosphere was beginning to affect him as well. Valkyrie followed.

The still planet began to get a chillier, and a slight breeze picked up. The wind got stronger and stronger, creating a whistling sound. The whistling grew louder still, and Valkyrie could pick out a melody.

"Where's the music coming from?" She asked.

The Doctor beamed, happy to have something to say.

"Ah! This is why I brought you here. You see, every so often, when the wind picks up, the bones of the Axsorians sing. It's mostly because of the glass bone structure, but I like to think that it's the spirits of the Axsorians still lingering. Listen- it's beautiful, isn't it?"

And it was. It was sorrow, so much sorrow, and Valkyrie wanted to keep on listening but it needed to stop, and she wanted to cry.

Something was changing inside of her- clawing at the inside, trying to consume her, and she couldn't take it anymore...!

She screamed, her voice hoarse, unleashing lightning. The glass bones fell, terrible crashing sounds surrounding them.

"Valkyrie!"

Somebody was calling to her, cutting through the haze of pain.

"Valkyrie, you've got to quit it! We have to get back to the TARDIS!"

"Skulduggery?"

Then two large hands covering her ears. Not Skulduggery.

She opened her eyes. The Doctor was in front of her, yelling something that she couldn't quite hear. The sharp presence in her mind was gone, and she let her hands go limp. The lightening stopped, but the glass structures continued to fall. He pulled her along, narrowly avoiding glass shards. They sprinted to the TARDIS, relief surrounding them as soon as they shut the door.

Valkyrie and the Doctor sat on the floor, both panting heavily.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking straight ahead. "I forgot that the Axsorians' song had that effect on humans."

She looked at him, and suddenly it felt all wrong. It shouldn't be the Doctor sitting there, it should be Skulduggery. _She_ shouldn't be sitting here, with some stranger she barely knew, in a place so far away from home.

"I want to go home," she said.

The Doctor started.

"What?"

"I want to go home."

He didn't try to stop her; he just nodded and got up.

"Where to?"

"Cemetery Road."

* * *

The TARDIS wheezed, and the TARDIS creaked, and Valkyrie felt heavier than ever before.

And then it stopped, and as Valkyrie headed for the door, the Doctor handed her her cellphone.

"When-" she asked, but he shushed her.

"Here. It can call anywhere, and will reach through time and space. Give me a call sometime, all right? I want to make it up to you someday."

Valkyrie stared, open-mouthed, before wrapping her arms around him as tightly as she could.

"Oh, fine. One more planet. That's it. And then I'm going home."

Then the Doctor was smiling and spinning her around (just like Skulduggery did, a voice whispered in her head) and they were both laughing before their journey began.

* * *

It wasn't just one more planet, or ten more. It was universes, and millennia, and everything she could ever dreamed of. And that little voice in her head got smaller and smaller

until it wasn't (just like Skulduggery)

it was just (the Doctor).


	8. Partners

She was coming home.

After a hundred years, and a thousand places, and a million people, she was finally going back.

It wasn't anything sudden; more of a small voice in the back of her head and an itch in her heart she couldn't scratch.

It began with a sudden tiredness; a kind of hopelessness that came when you've saved the world one too many times at the cost of a person's life. And then came an empty feeling, the kind of homesickness you get when you're unsatisfied with where you are.

Then she woke up from an impossible dream, with an aching need to return to reality.

It had been hard to break it to the Doctor. At first he'd just laughed, and whisked her away to "one more planet before you go home." And that took her mind off of things, until the novelty of that wore down as well.

She knew that he knew, and the tension between them grew more and more, until what had once been a wish became a burden. He'd known that she would go back eventually. (but maybe he'd hoped she'd stay, and she had too, at one point).

The Doctor needed her.

(somebody else needed her too, someone who called her 'partner' instead of 'companion.')

She didn't need the Doctor anymore.

He finally agreed to take her home, back to Haggard where she belonged. That was right after Suzannah died- a lovely girl who'd saved them all.

She was tired of it.

But there was a heaviness, too; a melancholy reminder that she'd never return. This was the last time she'd see these blue walls, the last time she stood here by his side, the last time that she ever got to see that sparkle in his eyes.

(but there'd be the Bentley, and skeleton hugs, and someone else to fight beside.)

The TARDIS wheezed one last time, and it was the saddest thing she'd ever heard.

She didn't cry.

Then it all came to a sudden stop, and her heart got heavy, and then she really did cry, and she was hugging him, hugging the Doctor one last time

and it would be someone else now, another girl who would be brilliant, and keep him from falling apart, another girl who stood here and travelled through all of space and time

And then he gently pushed her towards the door, and she was outside again. The world was grey, and chilly, but she felt warmer than she'd ever been.

She heard the TARDIS go, and she didn't have to look behind her to know that she was alone once more.

But she was back, standing in front of the familiar old house. Hesitantly, she stepped up to the front door, and knocked on the door twice.

She heard the sound of footsteps, and then Skulduggery was there, standing in front of her, like it had only been yesterday when they'd last seen each other. It had been yesterday for him when she left, though, she thought. But that didn't matter, because for her it had been centuries, centuries since she'd seen his face, and she ran forward to meet him.

Grinning into his shoulder- that empty hug was the warmest she'd ever know- she breathed the moment in. She was still crying, but this was because that emptiness wasn't empty aymore. This, this was where she belonged.

"Valkyrie?" He whispered hoarsely, holding her gingerly as if she was glass. As if she'd fade away, into nothingness. (as if she was still where he couldn't reach her.)

"I'm back," she laughed, tears dripping onto his shoulder.

"You're late," he finally said

and she wouldn't know until later, just how late she had been,

that he'd waited for centuries

alone

for his partner

because they'd promised

[until the end]

and he had waited until then.


End file.
